Development of specification and processing prediction techniques for the Chinese and Indian wool industries

AS1/1997/070: Development of specification and processing prediction techniques for the Chinese and Indian wool industries

China, India

CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology, Australia

Dr Bill Humphries
Phone: 03 5246 4859
Fax: 03 5246 4057
Email: bill.humphries@tft.csiro.au

• Indian Woollen Mills Federation, India
• Woolmark Company, Australia
• China Textile University, China
• Cooperative Research Centre for Premium Quality Wool, Australia
• Northwest Institute of Textile Science and Technology, China

$956,630

01/07/1999 - 30/06/2002

01/07/2002 - 30/06/2003

Dr John Copland

China is the biggest importer of Australian raw wool and tops. India is a growing importer of Australian wool. The processing of wool in both countries provides considerable employment. China has a substantial domestic wool-growing industry, however, these wools suffer from poor growing conditions and thus have several undesirable qualities. The regions in which the wools are grown are economically deprived, and the local mills need better technology.
Quality is the main consideration in today's competitive textile industry. The way in which wool fibres influence spinning is the basis for defining wool quality, because spinning is the pivotal point in the processing of wool.
Woolgrowers in China and India had little incentive to improve their product because, unlike Australia, they received no price signals based on the processing performance of their wool. Growers would invest in producing better wool if they knew they would receive more for it. For this to happen, there needed to be objective measurements of the fibre characteristics that determine processing performance. This could then be the basis of price setting. It would improve the link between the raw wool supplier and the processor and provide the necessary market signals to improve the quality of the wool clip.

This project investigated the usefulness of primary objective measurements in clip preparation, wool-sorting and consignment building. Its main aim was to develop techniques - suitable for Chinese and Indian spinning mills - that used knowledge of fibre properties to predict yarn quality and spinning performance.

Research was carried out in conjunction with a Chinese mill which processed large amounts of wool. The project was divided into two parts - in the first, researchers developed spinning prediction techniques suitable for Chinese and Australian mills, benchmarked these mills against international comparisons and helped the mills to define quality in terms of objectively-measured fibre properties. At the same time, research in Australia adapted a CSIRO model that related spinning performance and yarn quality to fibre properties so that it could influence breeding programs and help in the marketing of Australian wools to spinners.
The second part of the project concentrated on developing simple techniques to allow primary measurements of domestic wools on the farm, and then tested the usefulness of these measurements in a mill. The team compared fibre variability in subjectively classed wool lots with the variability in lots classed using objective measurement. The scientists demonstrated the likely improvement in processing performance by better separation of different quality grades; they studied the implications of this in terms of clip preparation, breeding and raw wool marketing systems and communicated their findings to woolgrowers.

In China the project made positive impacts on the quality of wool processing in the mills involved in the project through the adoption of the Yarnspec prediction model into mill quality control methodologies. This Australian-developed computer model was tested in both countries. This model can identify for a mill the modifications necessary to wool inputs and spinning machinery speeds and settings to achieve a certain quality of yarn. It enables alteration of mill settings so that cheaper wool top can be used without affecting quality and customer requirements are met. In addition, faster production reduces costs.
The audit of mill performances based on world's best practice has benchmarked quality control of individual mills and identified important areas where improvements can be made. The mills now understand the importance of wool characteristics and the relationship to yarn quality. Reports were given to the review team of 10% decrease in ends-down (that is, yarn breaks in spinning), 5% improved spinning speed on pure wool and 8% on wool/polyester blends, and the weaving efficiency ratio increased from 75 to 85%.
At the International Wool Textile Conference a senior Chinese mill manager stated that the project has moved the Chinese wool textile industry from an 'experience-based system' to a 'scientific pre-known and pre-control system'. Several mills, as a result of the project, have purchased wool testing equipment from CSIRO and Europe.
In India the review highlighted excellent collaboration between the Australian and Indian partners. This was based on evidence of a good response and early success of the project in some of the participating textile mills. The experimental design of the project was highly commended by the review team. India is seen as a growing market for export, processing and onward selling of quality wool and wool blends to Europe and USA.

Overall, the project achieved the following progress and impacts:

Mills in India and China are now able to benchmark against global best practices and to compare their performance against others. A significant benefit has occurred from the quality testing audits from an accredited laboratory (CSIRO). Mills now recognize the large impact that top-dyeing processes have on yarn performance and understand the relationship between fibre properties and yarn quality. Finally, the Yarnspec computer model has been adapted to mills in India and China.